Hello, Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I'll start with the best news! We had another baptism! It kinda sprung on us, actually. Last week during weekly planning we decided to make a goal for zero baptisms this week because we had no investigators that had been to church enough times to be baptized... but I had an impression to make a goal for one baptism. We talked about it but in the end still set it for zero. But then on Monday we were talking to one of our investigators who is always causing drama and we never really know what to do with him, but on Monday he said, "SISTERS. I will be baptized on the 15th for sure with Gift!" And we were like... "WHAAAA?" Gift is an investigator who has been around longer than Sis Hughes. She's 14 and has wanted to be baptized since the beginning of this year, but her parents were making her wait for her 15th birthday, so we were expecting to not ever see her baptized since she had to wait for February and we would both have moved by then. So we called her and were like, "You can get baptized?!?!?!?!" And she was like, "Yeah!" And we were like, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US." So we were like, why have her wait for the 15th! Let's get her baptized this week!

Her baptism was awesome! She got baptized with 4 other people. Every companionship in the district had a baptism on Sunday. Awesome! Before Gift went into the font she was super excited!!!! She kept saying, "Finally!" I almost cried when she was in the font- I was just SO happy for her. She's been waiting for this for so long, and she finally got to do it. :))))))))))) Happy day!

OK So now for the next best news: we have the best new investigator in the whole world. 

Two Thursdays ago we went to visit Sister Ooy, the lady who has no money and a crazy mom who won't let her work. Every time we go out that way Sis Hughes and I get SO mad! The mom is absolutely nuts and can't be reasoned with. She never leaves her house and just watches the news and sees how there are riots in certain parts of the country and thinks that the whole country is like this, so she wont let her daughter go out and work.... which means they have no money for food. It's always very hopeless and super annoying whenever we go. 

We found a Santa with a sax..... Huh. 

So we were heading back from that on a song thew pretty ticked. It was crowded 'cause it was rush hour and we were surrounded by a bunch of teenage school boys. One of them heard Sis Hughes speaking Thai and was like, "You speak Thai??" And they had a conversation. He said his name was Les and turns out he recently converted to Christianity and was curious about where our church was. Also, important note: he had purple glasses on. hahahahah She told him that we were stopping at the church and invited him to go with us. He smiled and was like, "Oh... uh. That's OK." BUT When we got to our stop.... he got off with us!!!!!! So we took him to the church and taught him the Restoration. In the end we told him he needed permission from his guardians to keep learning. He was like, "Well... my parents are Muslim... so I don't live with them anymore. I live at a church and the pastor is my guardian. I'll have to ask him."

 We were like DOY! So we invited him to come again and waved good bye thinking, "Well, we're never gonna see this kid again." Christians here are pretty anti-mormon.

CHRISTMAS SWENSON'S!!

The next day was Zone Conference.... and at the end when we were going to our various interviews, GUESS who was at the church? LES. I would recognize those purple glasses anywhere! We were like, "You came back!!!!!!!!!!!" And he was like, "Yeah, my pastor said I could check out your church!" We were like, "Sweet!" So we've taught him almost every day since then. He came to church two Sundays ago, but was like, "I can't come again cause I have to go to my church." He had a lot of questions and we really had to study the Bible and Book of Mormon together to answer them. He had some doubts at first, but he kept saying, "God lead me to this place, so I need to keep studying." ....But then a few days later we were teaching him and he was like, "BTW I can come to church every week now cause I left my church and moved into my uncle's house. I know it's true." 

Yeah. Also, he was like, "sisters.... why do I have to wait 3 months to be baptized (it's a rule that kids under 16 have to come to church for 3 months straight before baptism)? What if Jesus comes TOMORROW?! I have to be ready!! I think He's coming soon." So we asked Pres Senior and he cut it down by 2/3's so Les can be baptized on the 22nd! He's still really antsy, though. Haha Yesterday at church he was looking at a painting of Moses ordaining Aaron as a priest and I was telling him how he'll get the priesthood after he's baptized. His eyes got SO big and he said in Thai, what could only be translated into English as: "Oh that next week were the 22nd!!!"

Les and Khaw

What an amazing kid! He has become best friends with the Elders' recent convert, Khaw, the kid who has basically the exact same story. They are just the biggest turds together. They chase each other around and always have their arms around each other. GAH. Sis Hughes and I can't handle it.  One day after teaching Les, we got a call from the Elders saying to go to the Pakistani's house cause they invited the whole district to go for dinner. So we got on a song thew with both Khaw and Les cause they live out that direction. Les got off at his stop, but khaw was like, "Sisters, where are you going?" "Uhh... to a Pakistani's house." "Oh. I'll go with you." "Khaw, they don't speak Thai." "It's OK. I'll protect you from the cars. :)" LOL So we showed up at their apartment with this little Thai kid. We were like, "Uhhh... Hey we brought Khaw too. :V"

Next week our investigator, Dear gets baptized! She's 17 years old and the cutest person in the whole world. She is SUPER excited for her baptism. We are too!

So basically right now we're just baptizing all of the high schools in Thailand. haha! We're hoping to find some adult investigators soon... The ones we keep finding don't stay around for very long. :/

Me drawing in a park.

One more story! A couple days ago we decided to go to the airport to visit Jeep, who has been working SO much and we only get to see her on Sundays. So we went to go surprise her.... well, that was the worst idea we've had since the wad fiasco. Turns out the Thai airport is the STUPIDEST place in the whole world!! It is so hard to find anywhere there!!!! Their escalators are not systematic at all. Some go up, some go down, and sometimes you just can't find any that are going the right direction that aren't blocked by guards. And then the elevators don't even go to all of the floors and it's sooooooooooo confusing. Eventually we made it up to the 4th floor where the Dairy Queen that Jeep works at is. It was then that we realized that the Dairy Queen is in a place that's restricted only to those with boarding passes! ARGHHHHHHHHhhhh We called her to let her know that we were there and she felt good that we at least had made the effort to go see her. lol

Sitting on the floor cause my back hurts.

After that we tried to find the Krispy Kremes that was supposedly on the second floor.... but it took forever to even get to the second floor, and eventually we just gave up, got Subway and went home defeated.  The taxi driver on the way home asked us if we our sandwiches were good and asked if we wanted to try the leaf that he was eating. It was literally a leaf that he had picked off a tree and was eating. We were like, "uhhh... no thanks...." hahaha On Sunday an investigator's dad brought krispy Kremes so we still got to eat a donut! Yayyy :)

This is Sister Hughes' last week in Saphaansung! This weekend we're going to be in Asoke doing the big choir thing, so we're gonna have to work really hard to get balanced key indicators!

Things are great! Being a missionary is awesome. Especially when it's in Thailand. :)

Sis Zaugg

I MOVED!

This week was nuts!! So much happened. For one: I got TRANSFERRED!!!!!! But more on that later.

A crazy guy on a bike

Last Monday for P-Day we still didn't know who was being transferred (minus Elder Appleyard who was dying and Sister Sahagun who's been in Pakkret for like, 7 months), so we decided to have a last meal as a District. We ate Muka Tha (?). At a Muka Tha place you have hot plates that they stick flaming pots under, and then there's a buffet of raw meats, noodles and veggies that you throw on the hot plate and cook up. I was pretty sketched out and way confused, but the missionaries who've done it said they've never gotten sick doing it (still... yikes) and had a grande 'ol time watching the rest of us start throwing random food on these flaming plates and just being lost in general. It was way fun, and I think my food was cooked... enough. To be honest I spent more time just watching food cook than eating. haha But we had such a good time! I loved my district so much! 

At the end of the night Sis Downs and I had to leave to get to an FHE appointment at a member's house, so I went to grab the phone to give them a call..... except there was no phone! I'd left it in the taxi that we took with the sisters! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was so mad at myself... and afraid to tell Elder Jones who takes care of all that kind of stuff. He already thinks that I'm so helpless. haha So we dejectedly took a taxi back to Don Muang to try to find this member's house even though we only vaguely knew which area it was in, we were late, and Sis Downs ate something that was making her sick. Luckily a neighbor who lived in that area was home and he directed us to the other member's house. When we arrived the WHOLE family was waiting for us outside and were yelling, "SISTERS!!!! THEY FOUND YOUR PHONE!!!!" We were like, "WHAT?!"

Apparently Sis Sahagun had the number of the taxi driver and he found our phone and was meeting them at a gas station to drop it off! About a week ago Sis Sahagun had made the goal to get a phone number from every taxi driver, and she'd gotten it from the one that took us to dinner! Ahhh She's so good! I want to be like her.

So anyway, even though Sis Downs was like, "We need to go home... I feel sick." The members forced us in and fed us mango sticky rice and played Uno while we waited for the sisters to come bring our phone. Sis Downs felt better pretty soon. :) At one point during the game, the member's son jumped up with his hands in the air when he won and shattered the chandelier above us and showered us and the fruit on the table with glass. lol! His younger sister the whole time was like, "NOT THE FRUIT!!!!!!!!!!" hahahah

So we were expecting the sisters to show up in a taxi since Pakkret is fairly far from Don Muang, so we were SHOCKED to see them ride up on their bikes with Brother North red, out of breath and dripping! They were like, "Brother North LIED to us!!! He said that you guys were close to Central!!" They biked soooo far! Ohhhhhh it was so sad but so hilarious. Sis Sahagun thought it was funny but Sis Tilly was way flustered. Brother North was just sheepish. I'm not really sure what he was thinking. So that was our last Monday in Don Muang! It was one to be remembered for sure. :)

On Tuesday pretty much everyone was just DYING to know what was gonna happen at transfers. We were all so anxious! We kinda just came to the conclusion that we prolly weren't gonna know until Wednesday, but about an hour before English class the Zone Leaders got the call, and let me tell you: this was the craziest transfers EVER.

Elder Watts and Elder Tanner: moving

Sister Zaugg AND Sister Downs: moving

Elder Terry + new zone leader: move to the don muang house (my old house)

Sister Sahagun: moving

Sister Tilly: training and moving to Sis Mac + Sis Jackson's house

Sis Mac + Sis Jackson: moving to Sis Tilly's house and becoming the new Don Muang sisters

Whaaaaaaaaaat the heeeeeeck! If you didn't understand that, basically half of us moved out and the rest just switched houses. Yup! We were all freaking out. I was particularly freaked out because Sis Downs and I were white washing out and being replaced by ELDERS!! I was way scared that Foam was gonna hate the Elders and stop learning. BUT on Wednesday night we went out to dinner with her and she was really sad but prepared to learn with Elders. :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Also, we met her boyfriend who wants to learn with his mom!!! Ahhh it was so awesome. I miss that girl so much! I've pretty much known her about as long as I've been in Thailand, and I've seen her grow so much and I just can't express how happy I am for her and how much I love her! I'm sad that I can't be at her baptism, but I'm so glad that she's sticking with the Gospel.... even if her missionaries aren't around anymore. :,)

Saphansung at night!

So then Thursday was TRANSFERS! Sis Downs was way scared. She was afraid of moving to the Issan, which is the last place she wanted to go. I was pretty calm. I knew that it was time for me to go. I was in Don Muang for 5 months. I loved it soooo much! But it was time to take the things I learned there and apply them somewhere else. So, after introducing the new missionaries and pairing them with their trainers, they started the rest of the transfers! And starting with Bangkok East Zone in Saphansung was Sister Zaugg and Sister Hughes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First awkward companionship picture!
 Sis Hughes is holding toilet paper because
 I gave her a cold and she's been stuffing
 toilet paper up her nose for the last 2 days.

I'm still in Bangkok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm with SISTER HUGHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've always thought that I would love being her companion. And I do!!!!!!!!!!!! She's so amazing.

So Saphansung  is just wonderful. It just turned into a ward so it has a bishop and everything!! Also, it has old men and ping pong.

There are these three old men that are just the cutest thing on the PLANET. My first day here we went to the church to see who was around and there was this man wearing home-made suspenders playing ping pong like a CHAMP. He greeted us with a fist bump and a "Seeeesterrsssssssssssssssss!" His name is Brother Geua. Then there's the other old guy who's this teeeeeeny tiny veteran who's pretty much blind but still reads the Book of Mormon using a jeweler's glass. He just buries his face in the book and squints through it. It is adorable. 

The other old guy of note is Bro Suchad. He joined the church when it was first brought to Thailand! He was in a library one day and found a Book of Mormon in English. Even though he doesn't speak English he translated it into Thai, knew it was true and joined the church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo cool! Yesterday at zone conference I was sitting behind him. We so happened to sing all the songs that I know the alto line to, and so after the meeting he turned around and said, "You can sing alto! JOIN THE CHOIR." When I asked Sis Hughes about it she was like, "This guy gives everything he has to the church. We're gonna do whatever it takes to serve him." So now I'm in ANOTHER choir. How does this keep happening?!?!? I swear I've never NOT been in a choir since I've been a missionary. I hope this isn't a sign or something.

Anyway. This branch also has two international families. One family is from America just having a Thai experience. It's awesome!! They have the two CUTEST daughters. I love that they're not living with the other expats but are living in a Thai neighborhood and have Thai friends and go to the Thai branch. :D The other family is probably the most amazing family I've ever met.

 Eating delicious Bumi!

Sis Isrin and her husband Bro Brian. Sis Isrin is Bro Suchad's daughter, but she went to school at BYU Hawaii so she speaks perfect English. Bro Brian is from the Marcatian Islands (I don't know where or what the is so I don't know how to spell it) and speaks French and English with a French accent. They met at Hawaii, got married then started their family with 3 little boys in the Marcatian Islands, so the boys only speak French, but now they're in Thailand and are just the most adorable, odd-ball family EVER. Sis Isrin is gorgeous and looks like a Thai Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Bro Brian is HUGE and French and looks like Gaston. When I mentioned it to them they both broke out into Gaston's song. It was perfect. Their boys are sooo cute! They run around and get into all kinds of trouble and speak in French and it just kills me.

Thai Ronald McDonald wai-ing

So basically I'm in love with Saphansung, and Sis Hughes and I have made all kinds of goals and are planning to just be amazing and have all kinds of miracles this transfer. Don Muang was way hard and I had to learn a lot of stuff, and now I'm ready to rise. Amazing things are going to happen here. We're gonna start it off by fasting to help a current investigator be ready to be baptized this coming Sunday. We got a really good feeling when we thought about her for this weekend, so we're going to be using all our faith to accomplish it!

So this is a beast of an email, and I'm not even finished. I'll just impress upon your minds even more how amazing this place is by saying that yesterday I got waied by a dog in 7/11 and afterwards I jumped onto a moving song thew. It was amazing.

Love you lots!

Sister Zaugg  

One More Week in Thailand

Hellllllooooooooo!!

Per usual, MUCH has happened this week. It was a great week! Even if Sis Reedy and I have both been feeling really sick through it all. I think it was a mixture of icecream and some bad Thai food that we had last Monday. haha

This week we got two new investigators! One of them is a referral from a recent convert in the branch. He's in the army and she's his captain. LOL So cool! Her name is Ammy. She's been buddhist her whole life, but has always wondered why there are so many Christians in the world, so she wants to try it out. We're a little bit confused about her, because she's really willing to learn, but when she came to church yesterday she was sooooo attached to her phone, it was a little ridiculous. She was treating church the way a farang (white person) would treat a Buddhist wad. She was taking pictures of EVERYTHING, including the speakers during sacrament meeting and posting them on facebook. Uhhhhhh Yeah. She was feeling sick, too, so she went home before the 3rd hour.   She seemed to like it, though... just for the wrong reasons. lol Next time we teach her we'll suggest turning the phone off and listening to the spirit next time instead. :)

The next investigator is named Ben. Sis Reedy and Steele found her during the last companion exchanges at a 7/11. Sis Reedy and I gave her a call a week later and she was up to meet with us. We met her at a park near our house. 

A little detour for a second: this park by our house is hilarious. At first glance it looks like a normal kiddy park with colorful play structures and stuff, but REALLY it's like... a geriatric exercise park!! LOL If you look closer the play structures are actually exercise machines in disguise. hahahahaha In the evening a bunch of old people gather there and use the structures, flail around and/or lay about and don't actually do anything. 

Anyyyyyway. So we met up with Ben at the park. She's our age and has a real desire to learn about God and Christ! After we prayed, she was like, "Hey... you like, asked for blessings in your prayer.... can you do that?? Do you ever get them??" ANd we were like, "YEAH!" She's amazed by the fact that God and Christ love everybody and that you can have a personal relationship with them. She's a normal personal with normal person concerns, and she really wants to feel like there's someone who loves her no matter what! She's great.

Ew hasn't progressed much since last week, mainly because she works sooooo much, we only got to meet with her once this week. However, she still really wants to learn. She feels guilt for some things in her past and wants to have a better family life and get help with her financial situation, so she wants to know how God can help her with those things. She prays every day. :) Turns out that the random member that we took with us to help teach her sells across from her so they already knew each other! Perfect! So yeah, we won't get to teach her this week 'cause she has to sell out of town, so she wont make her baptismal date. haha Slowly but surely.

Sis Mali is doing GREAT! We have seen maaaaany miracles with her. First, we taught her tithing and she was super excited about it!! She said she would pay it! A couple days later as we were riding to a less active member's house, I felt like we should go say hi to Mali, so we stopped by her little sausage stand. She was super happy to see us and had us sit down so that she could tell us something important. She said that that day she had been really stressed out and depressed, because she was thinking about her debt and the fact that she wasn't going to have enough money to pay it that day and buy supplies to sell the next day, and that she really wanted to go to church, but her debt was making it impossible for her! She was justing praying her heart out and after she finished her prayer, ten minutes later her younger sister called and asked her how she was doing. She told her about her problems, and later that day her sis came over and gave her 10,000 baht!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's almost all of her debt!!!!!!!!!! WHOA. She was SO happy and astounded. She told us, "God really DOES help us! He saw my faith and blessed me!!" She said that she had already bought 3 new skirts for church that day, 'cause she's never owned one before. :)))))))))))))) 

Wow. What a miracle. I think the thing that astounds me the most is just the truth that God truly does love ALL His children. Like, I didn't even know about Mali until 5 weeks ago, but God did. He's been taking care of her all this time, loving her and preparing her for the Gospel. I can feel His love for her and it's so amazing. Makes me love her even more! Not exactly sure when she'll be baptized, maybe the end of next month, it really just depends on if she can get the last bit of her debt payed off. If she keeps paying her tithing she will. :)

We had another random miracle happen this week, too! One night we were teaching Sis Lek, and we had to go to a meeting 'cause we were going to be late, she offered to let us leave our bikes at her house so we could get there on time. It ended up working out that we had to leave them there over night so we could get home on time, so the next morning we went to pick them up. Well, we got there and went to unlock them, but the combination wouldn't work! Somehow when I was locking the bikes up I changed the combination, and we had noooooo idea what it was!! We spent like, 10 minutes just trying random combinations, but nothing was working!!!!! We were about to give up and call someone when Sis Lek randomly is like, "Hey, isn't there a 6 in it?" And we were like, "What?" And she was like, "Yeah, I think I remember seeing a 6 in it yesterday!" So SIs Reedy just randomly switched one of the numbers to 6, and CLICK! IT UNLOCKED!!!!!! All the numbers were totally random, and she just happened to choose the right one to switch to some random number that Sis Lek thought she remembered seeing. Hahahahhahaha WHAT?!?! We were soooooooo grateful!!! God does take care of His little missionaries. :,) That seems like a small thing, but really, when you think about it, THAT WAS A BIG MIRACLE. How many possible combinations are there for a 4 number lock? A looooooot. Wow. Every time I think about it I just can't even believe it. haha

So those are the big things that happened this week. I'm still a greenie, and I'm awkward 'cause I cant understand any one still and no one understands me. lolll It's hard, too, something I've learned about Thai people in general is that they looooooooove to talk! You ask someone a question and they just launch into this monologue about everything but the question you asked that goes for ages and agesssss. And they never seem to notice that no one is listening either! hahahahah Oh dear.

Sis Reedy and I have started naming all the dogs that live on our street. So far we have Scooter, who is the crazy one. He's my favorite, but I try to keep my distance from him. Most dogs in Thailand are super lazy and just lay around all day, but he's always running around doing stuff, I'm not sure what. Sometimes he gets scared by his tail and just starts wigging out. Sometimes we pass by him and he's sitting with just one hind leg raised for no reason. Yeahh... Then there's King James, who is this dog with a really long dreaded tail. We think he looks kind of regal in a sad stinky dog kind of way. Then there's this short little torpedo of a dog who we just come up with a new Mexican name for him every time we see him. Yesterday he was Francisco.

Yup! This transfer is coming to a close. One more week! Pres Senior called us and asked how we  feel about trios..... euuuuhhhhggggg....... I'm not really sure what's going to happen. :S 

Anyway, the work is really picking up here finally! White washing is such a lam baag (burden) but finally we're starting to get somewhere here! Haha took 5 weeks! But we made it!! Yeahhhh

Love you all!

Sis Zaugg

Hello friends and family~

So... tomorrow marks 3 weeks in the MTC! Our Phii Thais left us yesterday. I'm so happy for them! They're going to do great. I'm looking forward to seeing them and possibly being in a companionship with some of them!

Our district has recently received a new member. The Elder companionship is now a threesome! Elder Hunt, one of our Phii Thais totally destroyed his knee while playing basketball a few weeks back, and now will be flying out to Thailand with us in 6 weeks. We're not sure if he'll be staying at the MTC until then or go home. It kind of sounds like he'll be going home to heal, but we'll see! Right now we're enjoying the neat little rectangle that we form at the table during meals. :O) Lesson to be learned: sports at the MTC take out more missionaries than any other reason! Every day I see SO MANY PEOPLE who have casts or splints! Not only that, but random illnesses are taking people, out, too. Already so many of the Phii Thais had to go home because of random disorders that popped up at the MTC. I think Satan is really working hard to keep us from teaching people about Christ. :O I sure hope I manage to make it out of the MTC alive! The chances look slimmer every day. 

Starting two days ago we started singing from the Thai hymn book at the beginning of classes. At first we were reading romanized versions (PS Thai songs are super easy because there are no tones), but now it's full blown SCRIPT. Script is interesting. You basically find the consonants and then scan all around them  to find vowels that are scattered about them. Sometimes consonants wear hats, sometimes pants, sometimes they have a three piece suit! On top of that, you have to remember if a consonant is high, middle, or low class, and if the vowel is short or long, and then notice if there is a tone marker. All of those combined make various tones and it's haaaaard! We have 'script cards' that tell us all those things. We call them the Urim and Thummim. :P

Thai is coming still. Tones are really killing me. If you want to say, 'I believe in Christ', "Sidtee chxua nay Phrayeesuu Khrid khaa" it will sound the exact same way when you say it 3 years from now. Tones are SO specific. I think I told you how some Phii Thais have said in discussions that they bought tigers instead of shirts, that Joseph Smith is evil, and give the investigator a relationship rather than an interview. WELL. Last week in a discussion with a new investigator I was trying to tell him that when you read the scriptures, God fills you with His love. Welllll, what I actually said because of tones was, "When you read the scriptures, God drinks until He dances." I was wondering why the investigator looked so confused!! I learned that day that you never ask a Thai person "khaw chay may khaa?" (do you understand?) because they will always say yes no matter what you say. haha!

My companionship with Sis Ng and Barton has really grown. We're really learning to lean on

each other and the Lord. At first we were trying so hard to plan every sentence out in a lesson, but we learned that you just can't do that! It's all about getting to know the person as an individual who has needs and concerns and who has been prepared by God to receive your message! You just have to go in and discern what they want/need to hear! We're still working on that, but we're finally starting to allow the Spirit to guide us. It's really hard. It's easy to think that it's all on us, that we have to do everything. I learn every day that I just have to rest on the Savior and He'll take me where He needs me. As long as I'm obedient, study hard and love my companions and the people I serve, I will be able to accomplish what I'm supposed to!

I've learned a lot of awesome words! I wanna share some. : )

Bobaboboa = crazy (SO fun to say)

phrabida bon sawan = Heavenly Father

pen pay DAY! = it's possible! (literally translated: is go can)

patiseed = deny/reject (we use this alot in four square)

chxa = believe

Thai is kinda like German. It's so literal. you just take a lot of words, stick them together and boom you have a new word! Savior is: Praphuuchuayhayrccd which literally translated is royal person who helps give salvation. Yup!

Love you all! Send me letters. : )

       Sister Zaugg

Sawadii kha krccbkhrua le phxuan khccn sidtee!! Hello my friends and family!!

So, even though I haven't quite been here for two weeks, it's still counted as 3 because of how the MTC works or something... Anyway, the second week was MUCH better than the first! We finally feel like we've been initiated into the MTC experience and kind of know what we're doing. A little bit. Last Wednesday was the BEST because all the new misisonaries came and some even asked us things like "where's the bathroom?"! We felt pretty cool, even though we didn't know how to answer most of them still. haha!

Recently we have discovered the ~*CHOIR*~. I knew that Aunt Wendy had really recommended it, but I've never liked choir so I hadn't really decided to go. However, our Phii Thais whom we cherish and follow around like puppies were all like, "GO TO CHOIR IT IS THE BEST THING AT THE MTC!!" So of course we went. And oh... my goodness... IT IS!! The choir director is hilarious. Not only are we singing in a huge choir with 800 other misisonaries all sharing our testimonies about the same thing, but we get like a little comedy hour AND he always has the best spiritual thoughts that really strengthen my own testimony! By the end I feel really light hearted and rested, but spiritually stronger. Plus, we got to sing in the giant sacrament meeting on Easter which was amazing.

Speaking of Easter, it was lovely! I hope your Easters were as fantastic as mine. We all had the sacrament at the same time! Which I guess has never been done before at the MTC. Sitting in the choir with all these other missionaries whose purpose is the same as mine, watching the pictures of Christ show on the big slideshow and reading the words of the song "The Lord is My Shepherd" just about did me in. It was so overwhelming. I just had this huge realization that Easter is the reason why we're missionaries! There have been so many devotionals lately about how even though we need to cater to investigators' personal needs and show how the Gospel helps them no matter the concern, that we must always remember that the one thing EVERYONE needs is to be freed from their sins and to live again. And that's what the Atonement is about!!! Christ took our sins upon Himself so that we can become better than what we are. He died for us so that we can live again with Him, God, and our families. What an amazing message! That is what we are sharing with the world. We are the Lord's Battalion in the 11th hour. It's amazing.

I learn so much about my purpose and Christ every day. Something I want to share is a message from David A. Bednar's talk, "The Character of Christ" which we watched after the devotional on Sunday. He tells us, "Just because you have a testimony doesn't mean you are converted unto the Lord. You are converted unto the Lord when you begin to take His characteristics upon yourself." How do you do that? What are the characteristics of Christ? Simply, it's turning out with love and compassion for our fellow man when the natural man in us would turn in. I would ask all of you the next time you're having a bad day and just want to complain about it and say, "look at me! wahh wahh!" Turn out and make it about someone else. Remember that even when Christ was dying on the cross, He still was more concerned about His mother, the thieves on the crosses next to Him, and the Romans.

Teaching is betterrr.... just not good. I'm happy to say that yesterday we gave our first lesson in Thai with NO NOTES!! We had dictionaries, but we only looked up two words the whole time. The only problem is that we haven't been very unified in our teaching. That's the hard part about trios, it's harder to be unified, and thus harder to teach with the spirit. We're working on it.

We're happy and excited for our Phii Thais who got their travel plans last week! They leave next Monday! We're going to miss them so much. : ( 

Recently Sister Barton and I have discovered four square. We love it!! We play with the Phii Thais, Cambodians, and Mongs. It can get pretty intense.

I love you all! And I love letters. : )

Sidtee ruu waa saadsanacag nii ben saadsanacag thii thee chin khaa. Sidtee ruu waa Phrayeesukhrid ben Phraphuuchuayhayrccd khccn raw. Prakhaw rag raw.

Talk to you next week! <3

Sister Zaugg

Farewell

Before missionaries leave for the MTC, it is customary to give a "farewell" talk in church close to their departure. This is mine.

So, you know how on those missionary plaques that they put in the halls have scriptures on them? Well, the scripture that I picked for my plaque was to be the topic for my talk today. For weeks and weeks I looked for a scripture that had personal meaning for myself, but could also have personal meaning for any one else who read it. I wanted the perfect scripture. However, the problem with scriptures is that they all have personal meaning, and all are good.

If I could put all of Mosiah chapters 13 through 18 I would, so finding just that one scripture was a really difficult task for me. Eventually I explained my problem to my parents, and each gave me scriptures that I was surprised to have connected with deeply, and thought that both should be the scripture on my plaque. I couldn’t decide between the two, which proved to be an even bigger problem than just not knowing where to find it.

The one that my mom suggested is one of our very favorite scriptures, which is found in Alma chapter 5. Verse 29 says:

"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"

I liked this scripture because it's an invitation to all who have felt of Christ's redeeming love to never let it go, but it has also been a very important and helpful scripture to me in the last 6 months or so and reminds me of my own personal conversion and decision to serve a mission.

I knew that God wanted me to serve a mission when I was 14 years old. President Monson gave a talk in conference that year about the Priesthood's duty to serve a mission, and even though it was addressed to the men, I felt and knew deeply that it was also for me. At the end of his talk I turned to my mom and said, "Mom, he was talking to me," to which she replied, "I know."

I've always had a testimony of the Gospel. I've had the truth of it spoken to me many times by the Spirit. However, in the last three years I found myself struggling with my testimony. Deep down I knew everything was true, but since living the Gospel had always come easy to me, I fell into a false sense of safety and complacency. I wasn't as sincere and diligent in studying the word and loving Christ and His Gospel as I did in my childhood. Pride entered my heart and I felt like I didn't need to read the scriptures every day, that I didn't need to be so careful about my media choices. I stopped nourishing my little seed of faith, and it started to die, and even though I couldn't see it at the time, looking back I see how little the Spirit had an influence in my daily life. I wasn't as happy as I could have been if I had relied more heavily on my Savior and been more obedient.

Harold B Lee said, "That which you possess today in testimony will not be yours tomorrow unless you do something about it. Your testimony is either going to increase or it's going to diminish depending on you."

Satan often finds us when life is easiest for us. He lulls us into complacency, and then he strikes with everything he's got.

In 2 Nephi 28:21 it says: "And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell."

When Fall term began at BYU I found myself dealing with the largest, most difficult trial I had ever encountered in my life, one which I had not been prepared for, partly because of it's unexpectedness, but mostly because I had distanced myself from Christ, and was too prideful to turn to Him for support. I had been cheated away from the Savior who died for my sins.

It was in those first few months that I felt completely and utterly alone. I don't ever remember in my entire life feeling as cold and dark as I did then. My testimony could have been crushed then, I could have walked away from it all at that point, but I remember one night in my despair praying with every ounce of sincerity that I had, saying, "Heavenly Father, I will give up everything and change if You will just help me survive this."

The love and peace I felt that night is something I can't explain, but it was then that I knew that I had never been alone, that Christ had held His arms out to me the whole time, and I had just been looking the other way.

Christ says in Matthew chapter 11: verses 28-30:

 "28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

I had been trying to carry this burden on my own in my own way for a long time, and all I had to do was put it and my pride down and pick up His yoke, which I firmly believe is easy because He carries most, if not all of the weight. When I made the decision to be more humble and faithful in my obedience to Christ, I suddenly found myself infinitely happier and fulfilled. For the first time in a long time I felt to sing the song of redeeming love, which I had forgotten. And it is the most beautiful song that I have ever heard, because I knew that it wasn't just for me. It made it possible for me to forgive and to have love and hope. And I knew that others needed to have it.

One of my new favorite hymns is Savior, Redeemer of my Soul:

Savior, Redeemer of my soul,
Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,
Whose wondrous pow’r hath raised me up
And filled with sweet my bitter cup!
What tongue my gratitude can tell,
O gracious God of Israel.

I testify that by being humble and doing what we think are the simple and little things of the Gospel, that we will be beyond the grasp of the devil, and we will be happy. If we will just put down our yoke and pick up Christ's, we will have joy. I also testify that we can't be fence sitters. The fence doesn't exist. You're either on God's side or you're not. Like Harold B. Lee said, if you aren't feeding you testimony and growing closer to Christ, you're smothering it and growing closer to the devil. You must choose whose side you're on.

I am so grateful that I was able to have this change of heart just before the announcement was made. I was so glad that I had already started the changes that would lead to a full testimony beforehand, because after the announcement was made, I knew that I needed to be firm in the Gospel of Jesus Christ before I could serve a mission. I was disappointed and a little angry with myself that I had not been prepared at the very moment that the announcement was made to put my papers in the next week, but it was a testament to me of God's knowledge and love for each of His children. He is aware of us and what we need. I marvel at His patient hand in guiding my preparation to becoming a tool in this great work.

And now that I have learned this for my self, I ask every one of you not to allow this to happen to you. Keep your testimony blazing  so that you can be a missionary at the drop of a dime, whether it be a full-time mission or a member-missionary opportunity. Don't let laziness or lack of committment keep you from sharing what the Gospel has to offer to others. Luckily I had gotten serious enough about my preparation that Heavenly Father let me know at an early date that I was ready to serve, but I know that it could have been worse had I not been willing to humble myself and change, and I will never let myself get that close to the edge again.

We each have received such amazing blessings from the Gospel. It brings us peace and joy, and we should never ever forget it. And if you are in the same position that I had found myself in: if you've felt it before, you can feel it again. It takes work, and humility, and patience, but it is worth it. We all need to sing the song of redeeming love so that others can hear it.

        Which brings me to the other scripture that my dad suggested to me. It’s the scripture that he had on his plaque when he served his mission in Florida. It’s Helaman 5:9, which says:

"O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world."

This is the reason for missionary work. This is why I’m taking a break from school, my family, my friends, and my life for a year and half in Thailand. Not because I think it will be a fun experience, not because my parents want me to, not because every other 19 year old mormon girl is doing it but  because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, died on the cross, and was resurrected so that we can be saved and return to our Heavenly Father someday, and there are people in this world who don’t know it. There are people who don’t know that no matter who they are, what they’ve done, or what people think of them, that they have a Heavenly Father who knows them, loves them, and wants them to be happy no matter what. They don’t know that because of the Savior’s atonement, they can repent and be forgiven of the wrong things that they’ve done.

Now that I have found my joy in Christ's Gospel, how can I keep it to myself? Lately I have been reading in the book of Alma, and I have found Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah to be amazing examples of how I should be as a missionary. In Mosiah chapter 28 verse 3 it says:

"Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."

It isn't just about eternal salvation, though, it's about how Christ's Gospel can bless the lives of every person on Earth right now in their daily lives.

It's wanting every one to feel the love and comfort that I received when I was in anguish all those nights ago.

The amazing thing about the Gospel, is that the more we live it, and the more we match ourselves with the Spirit of God, the more we open ourselves to feeling the love He has for His children. During Stake Conference Brother Call said that the genuine love he feels for all of us, even if he has never met any of us, is because it isn't his love, but the Savior's. I've experienced a taste of that love, because I already care for the people of Thailand an incredible amount, even though I have never been there. I know that that is God's love, and it's that love that caused Him to give His only Begotten Son to die for us. It's that love that caused Him to give us the Book of Mormon. It's that love that caused Him to give us a living Prophet who directs us and guides us.

So maybe now you can understand why I had such a hard time picking between the two. It wasn't until Friday afternoon that I sat down and really prayed about it. I was eventually directed to Exodus 15:2.

"The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him."

This is my scripture. To me, this was the perfect blend between the two scriptures from my parents. Jesus Christ saved me, and now I'm singing the song of redeeming love. I am so grateful to my parents and the words of wisdom that they have offered me. I have always admired their testimonies, but I had to make a place for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in myself, and now I have the opportunity to share that song with the people of Thailand, and watch it light up their lives.

This mission is not for me. It's not about me, and it never will be. This is about Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, and His children. I am honored to serve the people there, and I know that if I am obedient, God will make me a tool in His hands, and He will change the hearts of many for the better.

I know that this Gospel is true. I am so grateful to Joseph Smith for having the courage to do all that God asked him to. It was hard, and it cost him his life, but look at what came from it. This Gospel changes lives for the better. I am living proof of that. Look around you; this ward is living proof of that. Our families are proof of that.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I hope I never take it for granted again. It testifies of Christ. It asks us to be better than what we are.

Above all, I know that My Redeemer lives. He lives, and loves all of us. He is the Redeemer of our Souls, and is always standing with His arms outstretched towards us. All we have to do is walk into them.
I'd like to close with a scripture in Alma chapter 26, verse 16:

"Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

I know these things are true, and am excited to share them with the people in Thailand. I say these things in the same of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.